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Saturday, 1 December 2012

Live Wrong ≠ Live Strong (Dec 2012--Jan 2013)

Have you
ever considered the possible parallels between Lance Armstrong et al.’s doping
scandal and NCI?Do the ends justify the means in either
case?Is the dishonesty worth it?

.

The Armstrong et al. duping and
doping scandal goes back to his first Tour de France victory in 1999.For years he got away with it, accumulating
six more Tour tiles.And now seven years
after his last title the truth finally
has come out in a convincing and undeniable manner.

.

So, why
now?

Because people cared about cycling
and its participants; those future generations of riders and spectators who would
want a fair playing field. Those in the know, and those who had their doubts,
persevered in pursuing the truth. Crucially, they fought through the wall of
denial and opposition.Enough cyclists
cared about their own integrity and finally admitted their personal involvement.
They made the difficult choice to take public responsibility and clean up their
sport1.

.

Let’s look at some of the
parallels between Armstrong et al. and NCI:

.

1.Armstrong and NCI were
both associated with popular charities—Livestrong
with the former and YWAM/Mercy Ships
with the latter (according to court docs2).People did not want to tarnish the image of
these charities that are trying to do good—part of the rationalization that the
ends justify the means.

.

2.Armstrong and some of
the NCI promoters and investors were often endorsed by important persons whose
reputations needed to be protected. Armstrong was endorsed by Nike and many journalists, while one of
the chief promoters of NCI was endorsed for years by YWAM before it became known
that NCI was bankrupt.

.

3.Governments appear to
want to protect (or not deal with) both Armstrong and the real sponsors of NCI.
Earlier this year the US government closed its investigation of Armstrong
without bringing any charges, while in Sweden the government only prosecuted
the administrator of NCI (a Swedish man) rather than others who actively
promoted and benefitted from the money.

.

Armstrong and people associated
with NCI were both guilty of discrediting whistleblowers—they dealt with their
critics by ostracizing them in order to conceal the truth, thus avoiding real
transparency and accountability.

.

4.Armstrong and YWAM
leaders both reinforced a regiment of secrecy on those in their sphere of
influence in order to protect themselves.The most telling evidence of this is that Armstrong’s fellow riders and
YWAM members were afraid to resolutely step forward for fear of retribution.

.

5.In the Armstrong
scandal it was fellow riders who finally brought the truth into the public
light.The United States Anti-Doping
Agency (USADA) played a role in wanting to clean up the sport of cycling, but
this regulatory agency could not have been successful without the testimony of
people in the know. Unfortunately in the case of NCI, no regulatory agency has stepped
forward (even at the request of victims and others) to extract the truth.

.

So, why
not forget about NCI and just move on?

Evil never acquiesces
easily.Nor does injustice simply
disappear with time. The evil and injustice surrounding NCI continues to contaminate
the Christian community. NCI investors, the various organizations affected3,
and YWAM members in particular (since YWAM as an organization has been affected
more than any other) must consider whether the “secular” sport of cycling has
stronger moral principles than the “Christian” work of missions. That would be a sad statement if it is
true.And so far, based on my research
of court documentation and involvement with the case, this is in fact the very
sad reality.One of these days the truth
will come out just as it has for Armstrong et al.
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